Palestinian fighters of the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, stand guard next to a crowd watching the transfer of released Israeli captives to the Red Cross in the south of Deir el-Balah in the central Gaza Strip. AFP
In a statement on Saturday, the State Department said it had received “credible reports” that Hamas was preparing an attack against civilians in Gaza, warning such action would amount to a “violation of the ceasefire agreement.”
“Should Hamas proceed with this attack, measures will be taken to protect the people of Gaza and preserve the integrity of the ceasefire,” the department said, without providing details about the alleged plot or its targets.
Hamas rejected the accusation, saying “facts on the ground reveal that the Israeli occupation authorities are the ones who have formed, armed, and funded criminal gangs in the Gaza Strip.”
It said Gaza’s police forces, backed by local communities, were “pursuing and prosecuting these gangs according to clear legal procedures.”
The group urged the US administration to “stop echoing the Israeli narrative” and instead pressure Israel to end what it called “continued violations” of the truce.
“The false accusations against Hamas align with Israeli propaganda and serve as a cover for the occupation’s ongoing crimes and aggression,” the statement added.
The exchange follows a warning earlier this week from US President Donald Trump, who said: “If Hamas continues to kill people in Gaza, which was not the Deal, we will have no choice but to go in and kill them,” without clarifying who he meant by “we.”
Washington said it had notified the ceasefire guarantors—Egypt, Qatar, Turkey, and the United States—of what it described as “an imminent ceasefire violation by Hamas.”
Executions and internal crackdown
Earlier this week, Hamas intensified its security operations in Gaza’s devastated cities, launching a crackdown on suspected collaborators with Israel.
The group released a video showing the execution of eight blindfolded and kneeling suspects, described as “collaborators and outlaws.” The footage, allegedly filmed on Monday, showed masked gunmen carrying out the killings in public.
Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem said the executions were part of a “legal process” against those convicted of “high treason,” adding that “all Palestinian factions and clans” supported the measures as necessary to maintain order and combat crime.
The Palestinian Authority (PA) condemned the executions, prompting Qassem to call the PA’s stance “opportunistic and out of step with the Palestinian consensus.”
He accused the Ramallah-based leadership of neglecting Gaza over the past two years and “hoping to gain political leverage from the war” before turning to criticize the strip’s de facto authorities.
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